Governor lalong created over 80,000 jobs with plasmida

PLATEAU: How Lalong Created Over 80,000 Jobs With PLASMIDA

Posted on January 26, 2019
 by munataray Munashak

The Commitment and Determination of Governor Simon Bako Lalong to move the state out of the economic stagnation to a commercial hub of the nation,was demonstrated through the establishment of the Plateau State Microfinance Development Agency(PLASMIDA).

The Agency is strategically positioned,to assisting the human capital development needs of the existing and would be Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME’s) operators,provide linkage services in terms of access to finance,market information,quality control services to the MSME’s source,initiate and coordinate bilateral or Multilateral technical assistance or partnership programmes with local and international organizations and foundations.

The Director General of the Agency, Dr Haggai Hurna Gutap is a workaholic technocrat and entrepreneurial Guru that has ensured that over 80,000 Plateau people have benefitted directly or indirectly from the agencies empowerment schemes with its partners both locally and internationally within the 3year span of its creation.

The Agency facilitated the establishment of an MSME council through the office of the Vice President to guarantee the ease of doing business in the sta
That led to the establishment of a one stop shop (OSS) collaboration with the office of the Vice President,which is situated within the PLASMIDA office complex,this was greeted with a presidential applause by Vice President Yomi Osibanjo as a model to be copied by other states.

The Simon Lalong Empowerment scheme phase one through capacity building and skills acquisition in various skills trained over Six Thousand (6,000) Youths and women across the 17 LGAs of the state.

The Agency are kind to the people living with disability and Youths as the agency has engaged in entrepreneurship development,training and mobilisation of over Three Thousand Four Hundred (3,400) trainees in that regard.

Another two hundred(200) were trained by PLASMIDA under the National Industrial Skill Development programme (NISDP) in collaboration with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF)
In collaborating with the central bank of Nigeria through its Entrepreneurship Development Center(EDC),PLASMIDA have trained over Seven Hundred (700) youths sponsored solely by the Age cy.

Over Two thousand(2000) market women and traders were linked under the Government Empowerment Programme (GEEP) and where able to access micro credit for their business.
Central Bank in collaboration with PLASMIDA have mobilised one thousand Agriculture Business and SME’sto benefit from the CBN Agriculture,Small and Medium Enterprise Scheme (AGSMEIS) loan facility.

Another one hundred (100) Market women and traders were linked and had accessed the Bleneson Micro-Credit Facility and very soon another 2000 traders are going to benefit from thesame facility.

Again PLASMIDA in collaboration with the GIZ through the SME Start-Up Loop Have been able to train Thirty(30) youths over a four month period coaching Entrepreneurship.

The MSME clinic which was organised in collaboration with the office of the Vice President exposed our SME’s to alot of market opportunities that led to Plateau state winning the award and recognition as the best SME’s in the country to BENNI AGRO from Bokkos by the Vice President with Governor Simon Bako Lalong and the DG PLASMIDA and host of others in attendance at the national event in Abuja.

The Simon Lalong Empowerment scheme has over nine Thousand Give hundred (9500) beneficiaries across the 17 LGA of the state.
It involves entrepreneurship training a d a grant of ten thousand(10,000) naira each per participant with over 800 trainee’s undergoing skill acquisition/vocational skills at various locations across the state ,this include POP,Paint making,Tailoring a d fashion,catering and Event Management,Aluminium works,Welding and fabrication,poultry farming and fish farming.

In collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria under the AGMEIS over 3000 MSMEs have been Mobilized and over 600 have attended screening exercises for business loans minimum N1,000,000.00 and maximum of N10,000,000.00 payable over 7 years on a single digit interest rate paid annually.

The Agency is positioned to engage,train and empower over two hundred thousand Plateau Youths in 2019 according to its plan for the year as outlined by the Director General, which will be unveiled in the days ahead.

Makut Alfred Mashat